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Legislative panels clash over construction projects

DENVER — Lawmakers on a Colorado Legislature panel that prioritizes construction projects in the state clashed this morning with legislators who draft the state’s annual spending plan.

The six-member Capital Development Committee, whose job is to review and recommend which construction projects should be funded first, are upset with the six-member Joint Budget Committee for changing its priority list.

Some CDC members even went so far as to accuse some JBC members of approving projects in their own districts over higher-priority projects elsewhere in the state, including one at Colorado Mesa University.

“Maybe there’s some little adjustment and some changes in the list, but a wholesale disregard of the list is what’s problematic,” said Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Snowmass Village Democrat whose district includes Delta County.

“I fundamentally disagree with that statement,” responded Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver and chairwoman of the JBC. “If you look at the CDC’s list and the list that we funded, there was a lot of overlap there. There were several, several projects that CDC agreed with.”

“With all due respect, Representative Duran,” countered Schwartz, who is chairwoman of the CDC. “Half. Half of the list you adopted was matched.”